If a buyer tells you what they want, you describe what you have, and they buy . . . Is that selling?
It’s order-taking
There’s nothing wrong with order-taking, but selling is something else. It involves persuasion. It specifically points to influencing how the buyer thinks about the following:
- The problem or opportunity. Think of this as the buyer’s “exam question.”
- Alternatives worth considering.
- Risk and uncertainty: How to think about a future we don’t get to know.
- Values and priorities: How to think about what matters. How to make tradeoffs.
A professional seller is in the business of first understanding and then attempting to influence those dimensions to complete a sale.
An ethical seller is looking to make sales that benefit all parties.